Even though Josh Steely ﻿plays guitar in Daughtry, the chart-topping band formed by “American Idol” alum Chris Daughtry, he never really watched the popular talent competition.

Steely, a Carlsbad native, just didn’t have much interest in “American Idol” or Simon Cowell or Ryan Seacrest, much less the time to watch the show.

During the day, he worked as a commercial electrician, mostly digging ditches, to support his wife and three sons. And on some nights, Steely fronted his own local rock band, Sandjacket.

But there was something missing for the lifelong musician, who had toured in the early 1990s with various alternative rock outfits and who had gigs with local alt-rock legends like Drive Like Jehu and Pitchfork.

“I was stuck in this weird place where I wasn’t happy,” Steely said. “I wasn’t happy just relying on music because it didn’t pay the bills. And when I was out making money, I couldn’t even practice my guitar because my hands were so sore.”

Not being able to play music wasn’t easy for Steely. His dad played guitar in Bob Seger’s band, his mom was a vocalist who would spend winters singing at ski resorts, and Steely had been performing music since sixth-grade camp.

Then, one day, after a particularly rough day at work, he got a phone call from Stevie Salas, a fellow North County musician who helps make “American Idol” records.

Salas told Steely that Season 5 finalist Chris Daughtry was looking for guitarists, and if Steely could make it up to L.A. that night, he’d get a chance to audition. As luck would have it, Steely was actually familiar with Daughtry.

“I had watched some of that season on a whim,” Steely said. “I was having lunch at my boss’ house, and he would always TiVo ‘American Idol.’ He probably still does. Anyway, when Chris came on, I thought, ‘Man, that’s the kind of singer you’d want in your band.’ ”

He drove to the audition in work clothes and flip-flops. Because his hands were sore from ditch-digging, Steely by default had to play quieter and more reserved than usual. That approach worked, especially because lots of the guitarists came in “trying to shred like Slash.”

Steely got called back to a second audition. Then a third. And, almost five years ago, he was invited to join Daughtry on the road.

“I almost turned it down,” he said. “I realized I would be away from home for so long. Having a dad that left for music and never really came back, it was a hard decision. I almost had a nervous breakdown because this hard shell had cracked. A shell of me dreaming this dream my whole life and now it was coming true. I had to realize that this is what I’d been preparing for my whole life.”